Use Adobe Reader as Presentation Tool

You can use Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader to create an impressive presentation from any document you can print. First, create a PDF from your document. Then, open the PDF in Acrobat or Reader, choose Acrobat/Adobe Reader> Preferences> Full Screen and select options to let Acrobat or Reader automatically advance from page to page at a selected interval, or wait until the user clicks the mouse.

You can make the cursor invisible, loop the entire presentation, select a background color, and choose from dozens of transition effects such as wipe, fly in, glitter, dissolve or split. To enjoy your handiwork, view the PDF in Full Screen mode (Window> Full Screen View).

Jay Nelson is the editorial director of PlanetQuark.com, and the editor and publisher of Design Tools Monthly. He’s also the author of the QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 7 training titles at Lynda.com, as well as the training videos Quark includes in the box with QuarkXPress 7 . In addition, Jay writes regularly for Macworld and Photoshop User magazines and speaks at industry events.

Post navigation

3 thoughts on “Use Adobe Reader as Presentation Tool”

Thank you so much! I just put together a 80 something page presentation and built it in InDesign because that is a software I am most comfortable. I thought I was going to have to import each page as a separate file and not include any interactive links in Powerpoint (didn’t want to build it in Powerpoint because it is not a design tool). I thought Acrobat could work as presentation file format and did a search. Some people said yes, Acrobat can be a presentation tool ‘if you have this application’. Your tip explained exactly how to use regular ole Acrobat to do everything Power Point could have done. Awesome! Thank you for sharing, you saved me a good day of production.

Naveen Iyer

January 14, 2013 at 5:08 am

I prepared a presentation consisting of “animation” in MS Powerpoint 2010.
I saved the “.pptx” file to “.pdf” file and opened it with Acrobat Reader.
When I try to play the presentation in full screen mode in Acrobat Reader,
it does show the slides but NOT THE ANIMATION in any slide.

Recent News

Due to popular demand, the first update for QuarkXPress 2018 adds back the font sub menus on MacOS. The free update further adds new JavaScript methods and further improves stability, quality and performance.

Progressive Web Apps (PWA) are promising to combine the positive aspects of both, native apps and HTML. Learn how you can easily create a PWA out of WordPress. Or by converting an AI, PDF, IDML (InDesign) or QuarkXPress into a PWA.

Need to sort text in QuarkXPress? See how this free sample script allows you to sort paragraphs in a selected text box with a single click.

When QuarkXPress behaves erratic or crashes, in most cases corrupt preferences are the cause. Deleting preferences will fix that. Just, where do you find preferences for QuarkXPress on MacOS / OS X and Windows? See here.

Quark has launched a new webinar series with free tutorials about how to create HTML5 Publications (PWA), ebooks and print-ready PDF. Topics also include typography sessions, tutorials about how to use Image Editing and OpenType features and more. First three webinars are online, a new one is coming every two weeks.

Apple announced the next major version of MacOS, MacOS 10.14, called Mojave. Who wouldn't want to try it immediately? Of course risk-free, without jeopardizing production if you have just one Mac. You need a way to revert if not yet satisfied. Here's how to safely test and how to quickly revert if needed.

How do you check whether your website complies to the PWA standard (PWA = Progressive Web App)? See how and see an example scoring 100 (out of 100). And how to easily create a PWA yourself.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience on our website. By continuing to browse this site you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can disable cookies in your browser settings at any time.Accept CookiePrivacy Policy